Mood Swingers

Rating:
Summary: Dark, Brave & Funny
Review: Be prepared, this is not a comfortable movie to sit through. No easy options, no pandering to 'cool' drug images and no safe resolutions. This is an incredibly faithful adaptation of Amis's blistering novel. The movie pulls no punches and has an effect that very few movies manage to achieve, this is an EXPERIENCE. Marsh's debut is incredibly assured and gives me high hopes for his next project, beautifully lit and shot it defies it low budget roots. If only more British movies were made like this. I first saw this in it's UK cinema release and was blown away by it. Not domestically available yet in the UK, I now own the region 1 DVD - which is a great transfer. The movies relatively unknown cast is as strong and brave as the subject matter. Marsh clearly has a flare with actors; top honours don't go to Bettany and Williams, but to the unknown Charlie Condu as Giles and Andy Nyman as Keith who delivers an incredible career making debut. It was despised and buried in the UK, loved in Europe and hideously title changed to 'Mood Swingers' in the U.S. But if you like your films smart, brave and non-patronising, this will make your top ten. Ignore what anyone else says, have the balls to make up your own mind - you'll thank me. Trust me, come back in 5 years time and the cult status will be huge.

Rating:
Summary: Technical minor point
Review: In spite of a somewhat ham-fisted ending, Mood Swingers delivers the goods. It's a relatively plotless tale of a bunch of young blokes and babes who converge in London--three of them are American--for a weekend of drug-induced chaos. The drug supplier is played by the same chap who wrote and directed the film, which is based on a novel by British bad boy author Martin Amis--who even blurbs the film on the DVD front cover!

More an ensemble piece than anything else, the film veers wildly from relatively straightforward narrative to occasionally very imaginative jump cutting. The thrust here doesn't seem to be storytelling as much as it is a "let's cram as much sharp dialogue, striking images, and violent segues into this 100 minutes as possible". The emphasis is on violence--meaning, not graphic violence (although yes, there is some of that)--but more to the point, a violent, hyperbolic style.

This is in keeping with the source material from Martin Amis. The youthfulness of the group aligns with their powerful urges for sex and drugs and also with the violent style of the film. This three-way convergence actually works well and it would have been perfect if the same approach had been used for the ending, which unfortunately descends into a thicker, more predictable mode when the real perpretrator of the graphic violence is revealed.

Nevertheless, this is an interesting film because of the chances it takes stylistically and the often sharp--and funny--dialogue. The mixture of biting comedy, intense emotionality, and sudden outbursts of manic energy is more than enough to hold your interest throughout.

Different and worthwhile.

Rating:
Summary: Quirky, flashy, erratic, intriguing
Review: In spite of a somewhat ham-fisted ending, Mood Swingers delivers the goods. It's a relatively plotless tale of a bunch of young blokes and babes who converge in London--three of them are American--for a weekend of drug-induced chaos. The drug supplier is played by the same chap who wrote and directed the film, which is based on a novel by British bad boy author Martin Amis--who even blurbs the film on the DVD front cover!

More an ensemble piece than anything else, the film veers wildly from relatively straightforward narrative to occasionally very imaginative jump cutting. The thrust here doesn't seem to be storytelling as much as it is a "let's cram as much sharp dialogue, striking images, and violent segues into this 100 minutes as possible". The emphasis is on violence--meaning, not graphic violence (although yes, there is some of that)--but more to the point, a violent, hyperbolic style.

This is in keeping with the source material from Martin Amis. The youthfulness of the group aligns with their powerful urges for sex and drugs and also with the violent style of the film. This three-way convergence actually works well and it would have been perfect if the same approach had been used for the ending, which unfortunately descends into a thicker, more predictable mode when the real perpretrator of the graphic violence is revealed.

Nevertheless, this is an interesting film because of the chances it takes stylistically and the often sharp--and funny--dialogue. The mixture of biting comedy, intense emotionality, and sudden outbursts of manic energy is more than enough to hold your interest throughout.

Different and worthwhile.

Rating:
Summary: Watch Out for First Look Home Entertainment Version
Review: This is the version I got stuck with. Completely linear. No chapters, no menus, no special features, but a decent transfer of FULL FRAME Version. Hit the menu button or chapter advance and you start the whole movie over. May as well be VHS. Buyers beware! Ask your sellers which version your getting. Too bad because this is a fun film.